Kenny's Castaways (9/9/05)

New York, NY

The Yankees and Red Sox were beginning a huge three-game series in the Boogiedown around the time I was setting up my gear for this gig at Kenny's. That didn't bode well. Add to that I was playing solo acoustic (as I generally do these days) in a venue best suited to bands. We've enjoyed some of our best crowds on Bleecker Street when Bill and the boys are on board.

Despite these ominous signs, I decided to take the soundman up on his offer to videotape the show for a small fee. I don't have a VCR so I won't have to suffer through a viewing for at least the near future. Let's just say it wasn't exactly my finest hour. It wasn't even my finest 45 minutes.

I opened with The Beauty Pool and What a Mess, two songs I can play in my sleep by now. I was unusually nervous and wanted to make a good impression. I stuck with familiar tunes, playing Snapdragon and Painted Myself, the former of which was strong yet again. Painted Myself, however, proved rusty after 16 months on the shelf. I forgot the second half of the first verse altogether.

Ironically enough, the highlight of the night for me was the debut of (There's) Nothing To It, which my Aunt Renee had requested before the show. The monitors dropped out during the first verse, but it hardly mattered. Peter Gabriel's Solisbury Hill kept the momentum going.

The rest of the set was fairly typical, with only Pretty Girls and Radiohead's High and Dry standing out in my mind. I was bolstered during the latter by a late-arriving crowd, most of whom had come to see the next band.

Thanks again to Renee for shooting the stills and Charles for playing hookey from the Navy to be there. See you all at Sidewalk on October 12th!

Setlist: The Beauty Pool/What a Mess/Snapdragon/Painted Myself (first since Sidewalk Cafe: 5/21/04)/(There's) Nothing To It (debut)/Solisbury Hill (Peter Gabriel cover)/Pretty Girls/So Long, Angeline/First of May (Jonathan Coulton cover)/High and Dry (Radiohead cover)